Pail



W. H. INMAN 2,083,449

PAlL June 8, 1937.

Filed April 5,V 1934 zzz-:5....

IN VEN TOR [fz/zuur Patented .lune 8,- 1937 UNITED STATES ran.

William H. Inman, Newark, N. Y., assigner to Bloomer Bros. Company, Newark, ,N. Y., a corporation of New York Application April 5, 1934, Serial No. '119,167l

16 Claims. (Cl. 229-16) This invention relates to containers and more particularly to those intended to contain relatively solid material such as ice cream.

An object of the invention is the provision of a generally improved and more satisfactory container which can be readily opened up, without cutting, to enable easy removal of the contents in l the form of a single block or body.

Another object is the provision of such a con tainer of simple construction, which is easy to manufacture and veffective in use.

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed outin the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a container constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention showing it withits side walls in normalclosed position;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view ofV the same with the side walls moved to an open or partially open position;

Fig. 3 is a plan of a blank from which the container may be made;

Fig. 4 is a plan of the 'closure in partially closed position;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section through certain of the closure aps and side walls, and

Fig. 6 is a side view of a fragment of the container illustrating a modication.

'Ihe same reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

When small quantities of buik icecream are sold atrretail for consumption oi of the dealers premises, the dealer usually packs the ice cream in a container of cardboard or the like, in which the purchaser carries it to the place o! use. Such Y containers usually have side walls in permanent xed relation to each other, so that when the ice cream is to be removed, it must be dug out of the container through the top opening, which digging out is ordinarily amessy and time consuming operation. Furthermore, if it is desired to serve the ice cream in brick form, the digging out of the Vice cream through thetop opening usually destroys the brick form of the ice cream and makesit unsuitable for slicing or the like.

According to the present invention, a` container is provided from which. without cutting and without the use of any tools, the ice cream may be readily and easily extracted as a solid body '55 or brick.

-venience as a rst wall structure.

One form of container adapted for such removal of the contents is disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,908,251', issued May 9, '1933, for a joint invention of Harrison C. Bloomer and the present applicant William' H. Inman. VThe present invention provides a different and alternative form of construction for accomplishing the same general purpose. The container of the present invention, like that of said'patent, is pri-- marily useful in connection with ice cream or similar relatively solid materials, but is, of course, not limited in its usefulness to this one product.

The present container' may -be constructed from a single blank of suitable sheet material such as cardboard or the like, suitably cut, scored, and folded as shown in the drawing, to provide abottom I I, usually of rectangular shape, having one side wall I2 connected to one side of the bottom and other side walls I3 and I4 connected to opposite side edges of the wall I2. Bot- Vtom iiaps` I5 and I6 on two other sides of thel bottom II, adjacent to the side I2, may extend upwardly along the inner sides of the walls I3 position and may be adhesively secured thereto as by means of adhesive I1. These .iiaps .I5 and I6 serve to provide relatively tight -corners along their respective edgesv of the bottom, and the advhesive connection of these apswith the walls I3 and Il holds these walls permanently in erected upstanding position. The walls I2, I3, and Il may collectively be referred to for con- The container further jincludes what may be termed a second wall structure comprising walls I8, I9, and 20, of which the wall I8 is hingedly connected to the bottom II at the side opposite to the wall I2, and the walls I9 and 20 are connected to opposite side edges of the wall I8. When this second wall structure is in normal erected position, the wall I8 completes and closes the fourth or open side of the irst wall structure, and the walls I9 and 20 overlap the walls I3 and I4, respectively, preferably lying along the inner sides of these walls I3 and I4 and the inner sides of the bottom iiaps I5 and I6.

Suitable readily detachable means is provided for holding the second wall structure in cooperative closed position with relation to the first wall structure., This may be accomplished by provid- `and I4 when these walls are in normal erected ing overlapping closure flaps on the two wall y structures and connecting them to each other. For example, the inner walls I9 .and 20 of the second wall structure are preferably provided with closure flaps 2| and 22, respectively, at their ifi upper edges.whichliealongtheinnersidesoi and are detachably connected to the respective closure flaps 22 and 24 which are connected to the upper edges of the side walls I2 and I4, re- 5 spectively. ot the iirst wall structure; The connection between the iiaps 2l and 22 and the nam 22 and 22 may be of any suitable readily detachable kind, preferably being an adhesive connection provided, for example, by the adhesive spots 2 2 which do not cover the entire overlapping areas of the iiaps, but only a portion thereoi. Preferably the adhesive connects those parts of the closure ilaps which are closest to the side walls, leaving the extreme free edges'of the closure iiaps unconnected to each other so that the free edges may be readily separated in order that the respective flaps can be easily grasped and pulled apart.

In order to facilitate the separation o! the ilaps', the upper or outer closure naps 22 and 24 may be provided with score lines 22 about midway of ltheir lengths, the adhesive all being between the the container, the closure iiaps 22 and 2i are score lines 22 and the side walls of the container, no adhesive being present in the end half of the 25 iiaps beyond the score lines 22. Thus the` end portion of the nap 22l may readily be bent up slightly away from the ilap 2I to which it is adhesively connected, and this free end portion may then be grasped easily to pull the flap '22 away from the ilap 2| to break the adhesive connection between them. 'I'he same is true with respect to the other ilaps 22 and 24.

In order to` facilitate still more the easy separation o! the tiaps, the iiaps 22 and 24 may beof slightly diilerent shape from the iiaps 2i and 22, -'s'o 4that the edges of the ilaps are lnot co-terminous or flush with each other, and thus may bey readily separated. This is seen in Fig 4,

. which shows how one corner of the flap 22 pro- 40 jects beyond the corresponding corner of the ap 2 I, and the opposite corner of the naple2l'projects beyond the corresponding corner of the iiap 22, to enable easy separation, the same arrangement y being true of the ilaps 22 and 24. v 'niescore lines 42 at the bases of the naps 22 and 24 may be cut partially through the thickness of the material on the side visible in Fig. 3, and the score lines 2i at the bases ot the iiaps 2l and 22 may be similarly out partially through the thickness o! the material on the opposite side from that shown in Fig. 3. When the adhesively v connected closure iiaps are pulled apart, if there is any tendency for a layer of one tiap to tear oi! and stick to the other flap, such tearing will proceed no further than the cut scores 42 and 4I.

but will be stopped by them.

'I'he adhesive connection between the iiaps 2I a and 22 lof the second wallstructure.- on theone hand, and the ilaps 22 and 24- of the ilrst wall structure, on the other hand, forms the only connection between these two wall structures except such connection as is provided by the bottom II.

Consequently, it is seen that when this connection between the iiaps is broken, as by pulling the hapsapart from each other, there is no longer any connection between the tops of the two wall structures and the second wall structure (that is,

walls I2, I2, and 22) may be readily'swung outwardly and downwardly from the normal closed as weil as its top, will be completely opened and so that the ice cream or other contents can'b'e complete sides [preventing it from ,wall I2 andremainingwithinthetlrstwallstruc- When, therefore,

position shown in Fig. l to the open position shown in Fig. 2. so that one side o! the container.

out the necessityo! cutting the container in an! When the container is in the normal closed position shownin Fig. i, however, it has (our andmaybereadilynlledwithice cream or other desired contents. When filled. the two Vconnected closure iiapa 2l and 22 may be turned down over the top of the contents, and likewise the two connected closure i'iaps 22 and 24 may be lturned down over the contents, and if desired. the extreme edge of the ilap 22 may be inserted between the extreme edges o! the dal 22 and 22, as shown in- Figs. 4 and 5. Then other closureiiaps,suchastheiiap22securedtothe side I2 andthetiap 2I securedtothe side I2,may also be turned down and interlocked withV each other i! desired. Thetiaps 2|, 22, 22, and 2l may be shaped and constructed, for example, in the mannerdisclosed in United Btat Patent No.

1,950,934, issued March 13, 1934, for an invention of John P. Shearer.

when it is desired to remove the contents of disengaged from each other, and then the other closure fiapsare opened up to an accessible position, alter which the naps 2i anu 22 are forcibly separated from each other to break the adhesive connection between them, and the naps 22 and 24 are similarly forcibly separated. Alter this,

as' above explained, the entire second wall structure comprising the walls I2, I2, and 22 can be swung outwardly and downwardly until the wall I2 lies substantially in the plane of the bottom I I, as shown in Fig. 2.v

kWhen the container is used for packing ice f cream and similar contents which has a tendency to stick to the walls, it is preferred in many Instances to provide means which will insure drawing the contents out with the second wail structure when the latter is opened up, and which will thus place the contents, when the pail is fully opened, in a position restingon the wall I2. accidentally sticking to the ture. To this end, means may be provided such as the ilap 2 2 connected to an edge of the wall I2, and the flap 22 connected to an edge oi the wall 22, these naps 22 and 22 lying along the inner side of the wall I2 when the container is in normal closed position and thus being behind or on the opposite side of the contentsfrom the wall I2. the wall I2 of the secid wall structure is swung outwardly and downwardly. the ilaps 22 and 22, lying behind the contents, will forcibly pull the contents outwardly with th'.`

second wall structure and insure its coming out of the ilrst wall structure with the walls I2. I2. andm22. Theilapa 22 and 22 may then be simply lifted 'olf of what is n' the @Op of the brick oi ice cream or other contents. and the walls I2 and 22maybeswungdowniromthesidesof theice cream so that the ice creamwiil be ireely accessible on all sides.

Itisalso desired.insome instances, topmvide means which may be'readily grasped for pullingthewalls I2and22awayiromtheblock of ice cream or the like, without soiling one's back between these walls I2 and I4, respectively, when the normal closed position. con

isopeneduptothepositionshowniiing.2,the tabs 21 and 22 then become acca-:4a

and, since .they are not in direct contact with the ice cream, they may be easily grasped without soiling one's ngers and pulled outwardly to move the walls I9 and 20 away from the ice cream. It is seen from Fig. 3 that no extra material is necessary for these tabs 31 and 33, as they use only a part of the sheet which would otherwise b e wasted.

A modication of the invention is shown in Fig. 6. Here, each of the outer walls I3 and I4 is provided near its top edge with a weakened Aline formed, for example, by the liner of "perforations 40a. Each wall, at its far edge and slightly beneath the weakened line 40a, may also be provided with a notch 4Ia or other suitable means which will assist in grasping the edge of the wall. With this construction, instead of pulling the flaps 23 and '24 away from the aps 2I and 22 to break the adhesive connection between them, the adhesive connection is' allowed to remain and, on the'contrary, the walls I3 and I4 are broken along the weakened line 40a by pulling the upper edges of these walls in an outward direction. This frees the flaps 23 and 24 from their respective walls I3'and I4, and allows the iiaps 23 and 24 to remain fast to the aps 2l and 22 when the container is moved -to itsl opened position.

The container is preferably made of slightly tapered form (known in the artv as the "pail form of construction) so that when the containers are empty and the various closure flaps are in upstanding position as in Fig. 1, a series of such containers may be nested with each other in known manner for easy and compact shipping.-

edge and complementing said rst wall structure to form walls capable of encirclingl contents, a closure flap on one wall of the first wall structure.

an overlapping closure flap on a corresponding overlapping wall of the second wall structure, and means connecting said two aps to each other for holding the second wall structure in cooperative closed relationship to the first wall structure.

2. A container comprising a bottom, a side wall structure including a plurality of walls fastened to said bottom along at least one edge, a second side wall structure including a plurality of walls fastened to said bottom along only one edge and complementing said first side wall structure to form complete side walls capable of holding con-- tents, a closure flap on one wall of the first side wall structure, an overlapping closure flap on a corresponding overlapping wall of the second side wall structure, and means detachably connecting said two flaps to each other for holding the second side wall structure in cooperative relationship to the first side wall structure, said connection being readily detachable so that said second side wall structure may be swung outwardlyand downwardly to a position in which one wall thereof This application is therefore not to be' lies substantially in the. same plane with said bottom.

3. A container comprising a bottom, three side walls rising from said bottom and permanently secured to three edges of said bottom, a fourth side wall hingedly connected to another edge of said bottom, -a iiap hingedly connected to one of said three side walls which is adjacent said fourth side wall, and a detachable connection between said fourth side wall and said flap, said connection serving to hold said Afourth side wall in cooperative closed relationship to said three side walls and being readily detachable so that said fourth side wall may be swung outwardly and downwardly substantially into the plane of said bottom.

4. A container comprising a bottom, a side wall structure including a plurality of walls permanently secured to each other and to said bottom along a plurality of sides, a. second side wall structure including one side wall hingedly connected to a different side of said bottom and other side walls connected to said one side wall in posinormal cooperative relationship to said ilrst side wall structure, so that when said means isdetaohed said second side wall structure may be swung outwardly and downwardly with respect to said rst side wall structure to an open position in which one of the walls of said second side wall structure may lie substantially in the plane of said bottom.

5. A construction according to claim 4 further` including means connected to said second side wall structure for drawing `the contents of said container outwardly from said first side wall structure vwhen said second sidewall structure is moved to said open position.

6. A container comprising a substantially rec- 'tangular bottom, a side wall structure including three side walls connected to each other and cooperating with three sides of said bottom, a second side wall structure including one side wall hingedly connected to the fourth side of said bottom and two other side walls connected to opposite edges of said one side wall for overlapping two corresponding side walls of said first structure, ap means connected to each of said two other side walls for lying against the thir'd side wall of said iirst structure, closure flap means movable from -a position in which the top of said container is open to another position for closing the top of said container, and readily detachable means connecting said second side wall structure to said first side wall structure to hold said twostructures in normal closed relationship to each other independently of the open or closed position of said closure ap means, so that when said connecting means is detached said second side wall structure may be swung outwardly and downwardly to a position in which one wall of said second structure may lie substantially in the plane 7. A construction according to claim 4 further including tab means connected to each of said other side walls of said second wall structure and readily accessible to be grasped when said second nummumanatoimopmpwmr oi'saldseemdwallstruetureoutwardlyanddownwardlysuhsiantiallyinto nrstmentlonedupstamiingwalLtwo otherside wallsconnectedtotwooppositeedgesofsaid 'womernnrormlsmnsthem sidewallsconnectedtosaidnrstmentionedupstandingwamaclosmeilapconnectedtoeach ofssldsldewulhanlladhesivemeansconnectingl 45nectedtosaidllrstmenilonedupstandingwall surenaps.

10,-A constrwtionaecordlng to claim 9 in which'said overllwllllclosurenapsareadhe- 55 slvelyconnectedtoeach'otheronlythrougha portion of their overlapping areas, leaving an-v otherportlonofthelroverlamngareasunoonnectedtoeachothersothattheymaybereadily graspedandpmledapara.

60 11. Aaeeordmgtoclaimmrther `Yconnectedtourmente ndeeagesofsndrounn lyingnlongtheinnersidesoftwoot` wall and the other three side walls. closure nap means movable troma tioninwhich thetopofsaid container isopen to another position for closing Vthe top of said container. and readily detachable means connectingeachof said side apsto one of said three side walls independent of the open toobtaineasyaccesstocontentsthereof.

13. A construction according to claim 12 in which said bottom land three side walls are permanentlysecuredtoeachotherandremain substantially in fixed relationto each other when said container is opened; s l

14. A tapered pail capable of having more than one wall readily opened without cutting. to obtain access to more than one side o! the contents o! the pail, comprising sheet material out, scored, and folded to provide 'a bottom wall, three side l. walls extending upwardly-from said bottom wall and permanently secured to three edges'of said v bottom wall, 'a fourth-side wall hingedly connected to another edge o! said bottom wall, a side ilap on a side edge oi said fourth side wall to overlap a'nd lie within an adjacent one of said three side walls, .a closure flap hingedly connected to the upper edge o! said side flap in position to form part of the top wall of the pail when the pall ls in normal closed position, and a readily breakable connection between said closure ilap and one of said three side walls.- to hold said fourth side wall in normal closed relation to said v three side walls until said breakable connection is broken. s -v A 15. A pail according to claim 14, in which said breakable connectionlncludes a second closure nap on one of said three side walls for overlapping said closure nap onsaid side flap, and a breakable adhesive connection between the two overlapped closure naps.

16. Apail according to claim 14, in which said breakable connection includes 4a second closure flap on one of said three side walls for overlapping said closurenap on said side nap, an' adhesive connection between the two overlapped sido naps, and a weakened breaking line approximately between said second closure nap and said one of said three side walls. A

- H. INHAN. 

